Ulver Overview

Ulver (Norwegian Norwegian language for “wolves wolf ”) is a musical group from Norway. Since their first, folklore-influenced black metal release entitled Bergtatt - Et eeventyr i 5 capitler (1994), Ulver’s musical style has been fluid and increasingly eclectic, blending genres such as avant-garde rock, trip hop, symphonic symphonic music and chamber chamber music traditions, noise noise music and experimental music, with heavy reliance on electronic electronic music recording techniques.

The acclaimed film director Harmony Korine once remarked that “There's a real lineage from a composer like Wagner Richard Wagner to a band like Ulver”.

Black Metal Trilogie

Although Ulver’s first three albums are often called their “Black Metal Trilogie”, they are quite different in style, with only two of them belonging at all to the black metal genre. The archaic Dano-Norwegian lyrics were inspired by Baroque poets such as Ludvig Holberg and the hymn-writer Thomas Kingo. The themes of the lyrics were greatly influenced by Scandinavian folktales Scandinavian folklore .

The album Bergtatt - Et eeventyr i 5 capitler is placed in the folk-themed black metal genre for its occasionally fast tempo, distorted distortion (guitar) electric guitars and croaky screaming vocals screaming (music) intermitted with melodious acoustic passages with singing, and for having a fantasy storyline. The title Bergtatt translates as “taken by the mountains”; in Norwegian folklore the word refers to people who wander off into mountains, lured by trolls or other mythic creatures. The narrative of the album’s lyrics follows a maiden as she becomes so mountain-taken. The subtitle translates as “A Tale in 5 Chapters”. Bergtatt features a melancholic, fully acoustical song “Een stemme locker” (“A Voice Beckons”).

Kveldssanger, Ulver’s second album, contrasts with Bergtatt as it uses classical guitars, cello and chamber chants, completely eschewing the metal elements of Bergtatt, while still having a folk theme. Garm has since remarked that Kveldssanger was an “immature attempt at making a classical album”, later adding that the performance was immature, yet the content is strong when their youth at the time is taken into account.

The third album, Nattens madrigal Nattens madrigal - Aatte hymne til ulven i manden (“Madrigal Madrigal (music) of the Night”), saw the band returning to a black metal style similar to Bergtatt Bergtatt - Et eeventyr i 5 capitler . Unlike on Bergtatt, however, the only acoustic instruments appear in a brief interlude in the first track. The album is intentionally underproduced Record producer , akin to Darkthrone’s Transilvanian Hunger, with buzzing guitars and rather muffled drums. There are rumors surrounding this album and its recording, the most famous being that the band recorded this album in a forest. A lesser-known rumor is that the band purposely recorded the album on a four-track cassette recorder and used the money that Century Media Century Media Records gave them for other things, like Armani Giorgio Armani suits, haircuts, cocaine, beer, and/or a new car. When questioned on this matter, Garm only affirmed that the band have expensive tastes. At least since redesign, the site gives no links to the numerous reviews to TFTWBMOH&H album-->

The metamorphosis

In 1999 the group declared:

Ulver’s next two releases, the EP extended play Metamorphosis Metamorphosis (Ulver EP) and full-length album Perdition City, were even more experimental and pensive than the Blake album. The band moved further away from rock and metal and into a more ethereal style, much like that of Coil Coil (band) . The use of programmed sound programming (music) and atmospheric atmospheric music arrangement is dominant here, unlike the previous albums. Neo-classical Neoclassicism (music) composer and film scorer Craig Armstrong Craig Armstrong (composer) may have been an influence on Ulver as his use of electronics and trip hop beats over strings and pianos is somewhat reminiscent of Ulver’s later works.

Teachings in Silence and soundtracks

The band followed up these two releases with two minimalist minimalist music /ambient ambient music /glitch Glitch (music) works Silence Teaches You How to Sing and Silencing the Singing. These works featured minimal melodies and often had subtle, weird and unnatural noises within the song structures. Due to their individual rarity, they were later amalgamated as Teachings in Silence.

Having proved their proficiency at making atmospheric music, Ulver were hired to make music for cinema Soundtrack films like Lyckantropen (see Lyckantropen Themes), Svidd neger (see Svidd neger (soundtrack)), and Uno Uno (film) .

Second decade in the machines

Since 2003, Ulver graduated into a more symphonic symphony style. They released the EP A Quick Fix of Melancholy, which kept the minimalist, sparse styles of their previous albums, albeit adding more dramatic and symphonic elements, with various string sounds and operatic vocal styles.

In July 2004, the band had recorded their sixth album, Blood Inside, which was released on June 6, 2005. Bringing back more traditional rock instruments like guitar and acoustic drums, combining them with classical instruments, brass horns, and their rich electronic inventory.

Ulver later joined the drone drone metal band Sunn O))) on a fifteen-minute track which appears on Sunn O)))’s WHITEbox box set, released in July 2006. Additionally, the trio had announced back in 2002 that they had been working on a string remake of Nattens madrigal Nattens madrigal - Aatte hymne til ulven i manden , but Garm
later stated on the message board of his alternative rock band, Head Control System, that the project “is in a state of total dormancy.”

The band’s seventh album Shadows of the Sun was released on the 1st of October, 2007. Garm described it as “our most personal record to date.”

Live appearances

On May 30th 2009 Ulver performed live for the first time in 15 years, at Maihaugsalen (part of Maihaugen) in Lillehammer, Norway. The concert was a part of the Norwegian Festival of Literature. The three band members were accompanied by guest musicians: Lars Pedersen (aka When When (Pedersen) ) on drums, Daniel O’Sullivan Daniel O'Sullivan (also in Æthenor, Guapo Guapo (band) , Mothlite) on guitar and bass, Pamelia Kurstin playing Theremin and Ole Aleksander Halstensgård (from Paperboys). Subsequently the only live appearances outside Norway were held at the Brutal Assault Festival in the Czech Republic on Aug 7th and at the Gagarin205 club in Athens,Greece (November 16th).
More festival appearances in Norway were announced: Øyafestivalen at Middelalderparken, Oslo (Aug 11th), Møllafestivalen in Gjerstad (Aug 14st), Pstereo'09 at Marinen, Trondheim (Aug 21st) and London's Queen Elizabeth Hall (October 9th). It has recently been announced on the official Ulver website that the core three members of Ulver have become four with the addition of British composer and multi-instrumentalist Daniel O'Sullivan.

The Sopranos

On the American television program The Sopranos, the children of main character Tony Soprano have a Nattens madrigal - Aatte hymne til ulven i manden poster on each of their bedroom walls.Full lengths

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